Courtney by John Burningham

Courtney is one of my favorite children books ever. John Burningham is the author of many great children books, including The Magic Bed, Avocado Baby and Aldo. I think that Courtney is the best one of the bunch. It is just as amusing as Avocado Baby (which is about a little baby who eats avocados and becomes really strong and scares away some robbers) but more thoughtful. At the opening of the book, the children of the family want a dog. Their parents tell them to make sure and pick a "pedigreed dog." The children then take the dog that noone wants, Courtney. Their parents are very mad until Courtney opens his large traveling case and cooks dinner, waits on the family in a white waiter's suit, plays the violin while they eat and juggles for the baby (my favorite part).

He spends all of his time with the family and even saves the baby from a fire, but when he leaves, the parents immediately forget all of his virtues and insist that they knew he would leave all along because he had no pedigree. Then, the children are at the beach floating in a dinghy that gets lost at sea, and mysteriously they make it back to shore, after their parents first becoming frantic.

Whenever I think about this book, I think about how Burningham has made Courtney into a Christ figure. The only people who believe in him are the children, but then he ends up being this amazing individual, making them happy--literally saving their lives. Then, as soon as he appears he disappears--again paralleling Jesus' death and resurrection--cuz the kids at the end are saved by a mysterious something that the reader just knows is Courtney.

John Burningham always tells a story from a slightly odd view. Aldo, for example is, I find a sad and sort of menacing book. And The Magic Bed is similarly odd. The parents are always, in one way or another the enemy, which is definitely a common children's book technique (consider any Roald Dahl plot) but unlike Roald Dahl there is never any humor associated with their shortcomings or villainy, which is sort of odd considering their audience.

Anyway, I appreciate the fact that Burningham has made a ratty old pound dog into a Christ figure. I also like how Courtney first impresses the family with his range of tricks--violin playing, juggling etc. He really is humble in appearance only. And here, Burningham has really managed to pack alot into a little book.